Golf club head

ABSTRACT

A golf-club head has a shaped crown integrally including skirt and a hosel connection having a hosel attachment opening. A bottom plate is welded to the crown and allows solder leakage concentrating on the lower part of the head. A striking face is welded to the crown. A hosel is welded to the crown at the hosel connection.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing sports equipment,specifically a three or four piece golf club head.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

The traditional forged component structure of a golf-club head has fourpieces, a crown, a hosel, a sole and a faceplate FIG. 4. The crown ofthe traditional four-piece crown is welded to the skirt so that leakageof solder wire is about 8-10 g, which concentrates on the upper part ofthe head, raising the head's center of gravity. The total solder weldingweight is about 22 g which can affect the golf club head weightdistribution and center of gravity. This causes loss of precision andother center of weight problems that have long been unsolved infour-piece type of golf-club head. The weight distribution of a clubhead is generally uniform. A popular method of correcting the center ofgravity is to add inserts commonly made of heavier material to the soleand skirt of the head.

Traditionally, the sole and skirt are integrally formed from one sheetof metal as seen in FIG. 5. It preferred to have a thicker sole than theskirt. Unfortunately, the traditional method makes this difficultbecause the sole and skirt are formed from a uniform thickness planarmetal sheet. Additionally, the hosel connection requires excessivesolder accumulation causing a variety of weight distribution andtolerance problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front exploded view of the club head.

FIG. 2 is a front assembled view of the club head.

FIG. 3 is a side section view of the club head.

FIG. 4 is a side section view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 5 is a side exploded view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 6 is a side assembled view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 7 is a side exploded view of the club head.

FIG. 8 is a side assembled view of the club head.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the crown.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the prior art crown.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

1. Relocating welding seams to the bottom, and avoiding skirt to crownwelding. Lowering the sweet spot by 1-1.5 mm.

2. Making a design where welding solder does not change the center ofgravity as much. Save 8 grams of welding weight and have only about 14grams of welding concentrated in the lower sole plate.

3. Using the welding solder weight savings to lower the center ofgravity by having a thicker sole plate.

4. Creating a better hosel connection by having a one-piece stretchformed hosel connection to allow tighter tolerance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This application is a Continuation in Part of U.S. patent applicationSong, Ser. No. 11/031,058 SPD Club Head. A mold may use a wide varietyof metal forming methods such as forging, casting, stamping, rolling, orsuper plastic deformation to make the parts to the golf-club head. Onemethod in current use is discussed in Song, U.S. patent Ser. No.10/672,463, which is incorporated herein by reference. Here a widevariety of means for forming parts can be used. Although a wide varietyof means for forming parts can be used, it is preferred to make the solefrom super plastic deformation technique. The super plastic deformationtechnique is not required for any part of the invention. Also, titaniumis not required, but preferred as the best mode.

The key to this invention is the crown 110 with skirt and stretchedhosel connection. A mold draws the crown FIG. 1, 110 of the golf-clubhead to integrally include a skirt and stretched hosel connection 117.Thus, the crown is formed from a flat sheet of metal. In certain crownshapes, the male mold member may have to be made collapsible. Accordingto the prior art it is well known how to make a male mold membercollapsible for removal from the workpiece.

As seen in the prior art, the hosel 140 and face 130 have been createdas integrally formed pieces. The present invention does not require ahosel 140 and face 130 to be made of one piece of metal and thusintegrally formed. The hosel 140 and face 130 can be made of twoseparate pieces of metal and joined together. The hosel 140 and face 130can be joined together before or after the welding of other parts.

The hosel connection has a hosel attachment opening 115 receiving astandard cylindrical hosel 140 with precise tolerance. The crown 110 isthen welded to the bottom plate 120, striking face 130 and hosel 140 toform a golf-club head. In traditional structures, the bottom isintegrated with skirt and is then welded with the crown, striking faceand hosel. The striking face 130 commonly has grooves 135 or otherdesigns showing the sweet spot.

Welding the crown 110 with integral skirt to the other parts shouldlower the center of gravity of the head compared to the traditionalcomponent welded structure. In the present invention, the weldingposition FIG. 3 is lowered to the lower side of the head and the bottomwith an in leakage of solder of about 3g, which concentrates on thelower part of the head. Thus, a portion of weight is shifted from theupper part of the head, where the crown and the side would otherwisehave been welded as seen in FIG. 4, to the lower part of the head asseen in FIG. 3. Overall, the net effect is to lower the head's center ofgravity CG by about 1-1.5 mm or more compared to that of a head made ina traditional fashion. A 1 mm CG shift should substantially affect thesweet spot.

When the crown FIG. 1, 110 and skirt are integrally formed, the arch atthe hosel connection 115 and throat portion 117 of the crown isstretched and formed as an integral part of the crown 110, see also FIG.9, 920. The hosel 140 is commonly cylindrical having a pair ofterminating ends. A first end inserts into the crown on the club headand a second end attaches to the shaft. The hosel 140 is placed in thehosel receiving opening 115. The hosel member portion fitting into theclub 142 is of smaller cross-section than the portion of the hoselmember that does not fit into the inside of the club. The hosel is thenwelded to the hosel connection. After the connection welding, the shapeof throat part or hosel attachment area on all heads are standardizedhaving much smaller variances than before. The hosel rests on the hoselconnection opening so that a welder can more easily position the hosel.

The top portion of the hosel is larger than the hosel opening on thecrown. The top portion of the hosel allows the hosel to rest in theopening without the hosel moving into or out of the opening. The bottomcylindrical portion of the hosel designed to connect to the crown issized to fit into the circular opening. The bottom cylindrical portiondoes not need to be snugly fitted, and can have some slack. The hoselattachment area can be formed as a round protrusion drawn from andprotruding from the top of the crown. The round protrusion would thenhave a terminating circumference. The hosel attachment area should havea terminating circumference matching the circumference of the protrudingring. During assembly, the top portion of the hosel matches with thecircumference of the hosel attachment area so that after welding andsurface finish, the weld between the hosel attachment and hosel is asmooth transition and not noticeable. The top portion of the hosel formsthe outside circumference of the hosel.

The thickness of the bottom plate 120 can be greater than that of theskirt plate thickness. The side and bottom parts of a traditional fourpiece head are of basically uniform thickness with a welding weight ofaround 22 g. But as the welding weight of the present invention is about8-10 g lighter than usual, the thickness of the bottom can be increasedfor greater moment of inertia and change in center of gravity. Theincrease of the bottom thickness allows uniform head thickness oralternatively a thin front striking face with a thick back of the crownto shift the center of gravity or change moment of inertia.

After welding, the club head is surface finished and then can beattached to a shaft to form the golf club. The surface finish can beprepared so that the entire connection appears as a single continuousshaft protruding from the crown.

FIG. 3 shows a section view of a club head 300 that has been sawn inhalf after assembly. The wider outside portion of the hosel 340 matchesthe circumference of the shaft, and the narrower inside portion of thehosel 342 fits inside the crown. The hosel 340 is connected to the crown310 at the hosel connection 315. A lower weld 322 attaches the bottomplate 320. On the right side 302 is depicted the other half of the clubsuch that the two halves of the striking faces are facing each other.

FIG. 4 shows the prior art club 400 having the hosel 440 welded to thecrown 410 at the welding point 415. The hosel protrudes 442 into thecavity of the club head. The bottom plate 420 is welded at a weld to thelower portion of the hosel 422 and to the crown 410.

FIG. 5 shows and exploded view of the prior art. The crown 110, thestriking face 130, the sole 120, and the hosel 140 are connected to eachother manually and welded along their interfaces forming a hollow golfclub. As seen in FIG. 5, the placement of the various elements requiresmanual skill. FIG. 6 shows welding of the assembled prior art club shownin FIG. 5. The hosel is welded at hosel welding 118 which is built upand manually configured.

FIG. 7 shows the side exploded view of the present invention. The hosel140 rests in a pre-configured position in the crown 110. The faceplate130 and sole 120 are connected. The sole welding to the integral crownskirt 110 is toward the bottom of the club, lowering the center ofgravity after welding as opposed to raising center of gravity common inthe prior art.

FIG. 8 shows the assembled present invention having the micro weld 118that is a much smaller weld required. With a smaller weld the toleranceis tighter and the center of gravity change is smaller.

FIG. 9 is a drawing of the close up of the hosel connection formed onthe present invention crown 110. The connection is stretched and has ahosel aperture 920, 115 allowing a hosel to fit into the crown. FIG. 10shows the crown of the prior art having no opening to secure the hosel940 prior to and during welding. The crown 110 of the prior art has aconnection 940 that does not allow tight tolerance.

CALL OUT LIST OF ELEMENTS

110 Crown

115 Hosel Mount Aperture

117 Hosel Mount And Arch

118 Hosel Welding

120 Bottom Plate

130 Striking Face

135 Grooves On Face Plate

140 Hosel

142 Hosel Member Portion Fitting Into Club

300 Club Head

302 Right Side

310 Crown

320 Bottom Plate

322 Lower Weld

340 Outside Portion Of The Hosel

342 Narrower Inside Portion Of The Hosel

400 Prior Art Club

410 Crown

420 Bottom Plate

422 Lower Portion Of The Hosel

440 Hosel

920 Hosel Aperture

1. A golf-club head comprising: a. a crown integrally including skirtand a hosel connection having a hosel attachment opening; b. a bottomsole welded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on thelower part of the head; c. a striking face welded to the crown; and d. ahosel welded to the crown at the hosel connection.
 2. The golf-club headof claim 1 wherein the hosel attachment opening is round and receives astandard cylindrical hosel.
 3. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein thecrown and skirt are integrally formed to include an arch at the hoselconnection.
 4. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein the thickness ofthe bottom sole is greater than the skirt plate thickness.
 5. Thegolf-club head of claim 1 wherein the hosel attachment area of the crownterminates in a circumference matching the outside circumference of theprotruding ring.
 6. A golf-club head comprising: a. a crown formed froma single sheet of metal to integrally include a skirt and an stretchedhosel connection having a hosel attachment opening; b. a bottom solewelded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on the lowerpart of the head; and c. a hosel and striking face formed from a singlepiece of metal and welded to the crown at the hosel connection and alongan interface formed between the striking face and crown.
 7. Thegolf-club head of claim 6 wherein the hosel attachment opening is roundand receives a standard cylindrical hosel.
 8. The golf-club head ofclaim 6 wherein the crown and skirt are integrally formed to include anarch at the hosel connection.
 9. The golf-club head of claim 6 whereinthe thickness of the bottom sole is greater than the skirt platethickness.
 10. The golf-club head of claim 6 wherein the hoselattachment area of the crown terminates in a circumference matching theoutside circumference of the protruding ring.
 11. A golf-club headcomprising: a. a crown formed from a flat sheet of metal so that itintegrally includes a skirt and a hosel connection; b. a bottom solewelded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on the lowerpart of the head; c. a striking face welded to the crown; and d. a hoselwelded to the crown at the hosel connection.
 12. The golf-club head ofclaim 11 wherein the hosel attachment opening is round and receives astandard cylindrical hosel.
 13. The golf-club head of claim 11 whereinthe crown and skirt are integrally formed to include an arch at thehosel connection.
 14. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein thethickness of the bottom sole is greater than the skirt plate thickness.15. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein the hosel attachment area ofthe crown terminates in a circumference matching the outsidecircumference of the protruding ring.